73 Is the New Retirement Age for Today's College Grads

Melanie Pinola , Gawker MediaOct 24, 2013, 09.31 PM IST

Thanks to the skyrocketing costs of college and the great burden of student debt, most of today's college grads won't be able to retire until the age of 73. Even worse, they'll only have about 11 years to enjoy retirement.

These findings and analysis come from NerdWallet, which crunched the numbers for the typical college graduate. Median debt is $23,300 and starting salary is $45,327. With interest, that debt costs students more than $115,000 by the time they retire-subsequently sabotaging their retirement savings.

Most students with that kind of student debt will have to wait until their 70s to retire-a decade longer than the average retirement age today.

The less debt you have at graduation and the higher the starting salary, the better the picture gets, naturally. A "well-off" graduate with only $10,000 in student debt and a $55,000 starting salary can retire at 67 with over $800,000 (assuming the money is used to contribute to a retirement plan early in the career).

All hope is not lost, though, NerdWallet says:

There are many factors that influence the ultimate age at which people are able to retire, but there are a few variables that have a particularly large impact. Making above-average yearly contributions to a retirement account, working for an organization with a decent 401(k) match, and making sure to invest money in index tracking mutual funds are three ways to help add years to retirement.

And if you have a lot of student debt, know that there are a few ways you can get it paid off (or even forgiven) right away.

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